Celebrating life at Barchester

Ringo the 7 month old Meerkat was a huge hit at Leonard lodge care home. Residents and staff had loads of fun and cuddles. We look forward to welcoming Ringo again.

Our home is officially in the holiday spirit. Residents spent the day decorating, hanging ornaments, and bringing our Christmas tree to life with joy, laughter, and teamwork.

We made some beautiful decorations and shared some cheerful moments while turning our home into a winter wonderland. 

Let the holiday season begin.     

It may not be December just yet, but we’re already getting excited about the big day as we celebrate the wonderful tradition of Stir-Up Sunday.

Originally, every member of the family would take a turn stirring the Christmas pudding, adding their love, wishes, and hopes into the mixture. 

As one big family here at Cedars, we thought it would be a lovely tradition to continue. Everyone had the chance to stir the pudding mix, sharing their dreams, hopes, and plenty of love to make this year’s Christmas dessert extra special. We can’t wait for December and all the festive fun still to come.    

A lovely Christmas Shopping trip to Woodley Shopping Centre, then a delicious Birthday Cake on our return to our home.

Resident Linda had a wonderful day, not only celebrating her birthday, but by being able to go out on the mini bus to do a bit of Christmas Shopping, then enjoying a light lunch at Costa Coffee. Linda made sure she had her shopping list of many things to buy, and being able to choose for herself was a great way to express her happiness, independence and self-confidence. 

On returning home, Linda was welcomed with gifts and cards, and amazed at the delicious birthday cake she was presented with by our lovely hostess, with all the staff singing Happy Birthday. Linda said she had the best day and couldn’t thank us enough.       

Mulberry Court care home, in Rawcliffe, York, got in the Christmas spirit by inviting world-famous chocolate company Nestle into our home and threw a party for residents.

Mulberry Court’s Christmas party was in full swing with Nestle hosting bingo and festive crafts as well as chatting to all our residents.  Residents enjoyed a feast of chocolates provided by the company.

General Manager, Rachael Moss, said: “Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year and our fantastic residents love to get festive, so we’ve pulled out all the stops.  It is so lovely to see them all getting into the Christmas spirit, it’s definitely my favourite time of year.”

Dorothy, resident at Mulberry Court, said: “It has been a lovely day. It was wonderful to see everyone go to so much effort to get into the Christmas spirit. I really enjoyed Nestle coming in and hosting the party for us. It truly was a lovely morning.    

On the 3rd of December, the staff at Winchester House swapped their uniforms for Elf costumes, in aid of Elf day, and to help and raise awareness for Alzheimer’s society. Eld day was created to sprinkle some festive cheer on fundraising towards finding a cure for dementia.

The naughty elves went around the building, being cheeky and making all our community laugh and smile. Our communities wanted to have their photos taken with the naughty elves as well.

Throughout the day, our residents and staff were finding little sweet treats that were hidden around the home by the naughty elves, and we also played themed games and activities with our residents.

A fantastic day was had by all staff and residents.      

Staff members at Atfield House came together after their days' work to celebrate our team and the diversity in our team. Everyone  was encouraged to wear their cultural dress and join us for some diverse nibbles and great dishes from different cultures. 

The evening was filled with music and dancing and lots of fun, hugs and laughter. What a great way to promote team spirit, foster unity and create joy amongst staff members. Big thank you to our manager, Subin, who put on the event for us.

The different cultural music and dance was great fun and the food was fabulous!   

Our Deputy Manager put her hot chocolate–making skills to the test today — and what a delicious afternoon it was!

We tried out two brand-new syrup flavours: Toasted Marshmallow and Mince Pie. The results? Lots of smiles, plenty of cosy cups, and a lot of festive flavour fun!

Everyone enjoyed choosing their favourite (or trying both!), and the warm, sweet aromas filled the home with pure comfort.

Here’s to many more tasty moments at Pittsmead Grange!